How decreased sugar in Lucozade will affect the treatment of hypoglycaemia (March 2017)

How decreased sugar in Lucozade will affect the treatment of hypoglycaemia (March 2017)

As you will be aware, the current guidelines advise that first aiders should aim to give 15-20g of glucose for the treatment of low blood sugar (hypoglycaemia).

However, it has been announced that Lucozade Energy will be lowering the sugar content in all of their flavoured drinks by more than 50% from April 2017, meaning that 20g of glucose will no longer to be the equivalent of 150ml of Lucozade Original.

From April 2017 any first aider who gives adult hypoglycaemic casualties Lucozade Original should aim to give 160ml – 225ml. For hypoglycaemic children, this amount should be 115ml. The advice in our books and PowerPoint Presentations will be updated to reflect this new information in the upcoming months.

Training providers can simplify the advice given to first aiders as follows: For adults, give 200ml of either Lucozade, Lemonade, Cola or pure fruit juice. 200ml of any of these drinks should contain between 15g - 20g of glucose.

It is likely that both the new and old bottles of Lucozade will be available to the public in the upcoming months. In addition, the reason for the change is the introduction of the 2018 sugar tax in the UK, so it is likely that other fizzy drinks will also see a reduction in their sugar content in the near future. We therefore recommend that first aiders always check the labels of any Lucozade products and other fizzy drinks they are giving.

If you have any questions regarding the above, please don’t hesitate to contact us on 0845 644 3305 or email info@qualsafe.com.